Red Bull has firmly shut the door on Mercedes’ attempt to entice Max Verstappen away from the team, having secured Helmut Marko, its motorsport advisor, to stay.
Verstappen has been Mercedes’ top aim to replace Lewis Hamilton since the beginning of the season, with Hamilton planning to join Ferrari the following year.
Toto Wolff, the manager of the Mercedes team, stated earlier this year: “We need to sort out our car first, but I’d love to have him.”
“Max needs to make this decision, in my opinion. Every squad in the grid would perform handstands to get him inside a vehicle.
Even though Verstappen’s current contract with Red Bull keeps him there until the end of 2028, it was revealed earlier this year that the Dutchman had some break provisions that would have allowed him to depart sooner if he so desired.
While Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings heading into the summer break and Red Bull leads the constructors’ title, it is thought that certain of these performance-related criteria are no longer activated.
But Verstappen’s management group and Marko added a hidden condition to his contract last winter without telling Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner, and that was another factor that surfaced at the beginning of the season.
This was a condition in an amendment that said Verstappen may terminate his contract and go elsewhere if Marko departed the organization.
Verstappen’s position in the team was therefore called into question when Marko’s future with the team was under scrutiny earlier this year.
Verstappen frequently stated that he would not be likely to stay if Marko left, which would have allowed Mercedes to seize him.
Verstappen remarked, “I can’t continue without him,” adding, “I’ve always clearly indicated that he has to stay,” during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Helmut is critical to the team’s future, as is my continued presence on it.
As Mercedes continues to use all of its pressure to persuade Red Bull’s top driver to leave the company, Motorsport.com has discovered that Red Bull has taken action to solidify Marko’s position and allay any doubts regarding his future. This essentially ensures that Verstappen will remain.
According to sources, Marko has now signed a contract that ensures he will finish the remaining years of his deal with the team, which expires at the end of 2026.
Moreover, it is implied that Verstappen has also agreed in principle that it would not be acceptable to proceed even in the event that Marko’s absence is caused by events outside the team’s control, like an illness.
Verstappen won’t be available to any other team for the next two years, and possibly even longer if the team keeps up its current level of performance, according to Marko’s vow to stay until the end of 2026.
Additionally, Mercedes must now decide whether to select senior driver Carlos Sainz or its junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the upcoming season.